Doubts over Sri Lanka's reconciliation efforts

Gabriel Domnguez-26.02.2014 Amid growing pressure on Sri Lanka to address war crimes allegations, Colombo has announced it is considering a reconciliation commission modeled after South Africa's postApartheid body. But e perts are skeptical.

The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly come under fire from critics for failing adequately to investigate war crimes and promote reconciliation with the country's Tamil minority following a decades-long civil war. Last week, it said it was considering a process similar to South-Africa's post-apartheid Truth and econciliation !ommission. !olom"o sent a high-level delegation to South Africa to see, according to a spokesman for #imal Siripala de Silva, Sri Lankan minister for water, who led the five-mem"er team, $what lessons it could learn.$ %uring their two-day trip, the Sri Lankans held talks with South African officials a"out the $procedures and e&periences of the commission$ that was set up almost two decades ago to pro"e political crimes committed during the apartheid era. The !olom"o'age newspaper reported that the visit was aimed at e&ploring the possi"ility of using the South African mechanism for the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. !olom"o has yet to formally announce whether or not it will set up such a commission, although those in favor of a "ody modeled after the South African T ! say it would ena"le offenders to pu"licly admit their atrocities and avoid prosecution.

'(nlikely to convince detractors' Alan )eenan, a Sri Lanka analyst at the *nternational !risis +roup, regards the trip to South Africa as a last-minute attempt "y the Sri Lankan government to undermine a (S-sponsored resolution that is due to "e introduced at the upcoming (#, ! session in -arch, Sri Lanka's fi!e-member delegation to South Africa e&pected to call for an international was led by "imal Siripala de Sil!a #L$ investigation into alleged atrocities committed in the final stages of the decades-long civil war. )eenan says it is $unlikely to convince the government.s detractors,$ who accuse it of failing to thoroughly investigate these allegations. After making a trip to Sri Lanka earlier this year, (S Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia #isha /iswal accused !olom"o of failing to conduct credi"le inquiries and making slow progress in implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and econciliation !ommission 0LL !1, which the Sri Lankan government set up in the aftermath of the conflict. $There hasn't "een sufficient action taken "y the government to address the issues of 2ustice and accounta"ility.$ The #ew-3ork "ased ,uman ights 4atch has also claimed that there can "e no credi"le T ! process in the South Asian nation at the moment $as there is no political will.$ A similar view is shared "y Amnesty *nternational 0A*1. $The pattern of harassment, surveillance and attacks against those opposing the Sri Lankan authorities is deeply distur"ing and shows no sign of letting up,$ 'olly Truscott, A*'s %eputy Asia- 'acific %irector, said in a statement. $Sri Lanka is doing whatever it can to avoid accounta"ility for the alleged horrific violations "y its security forces during the armed conflict,$ she added.*n a statement sent to %4, it critici5ed the government's failure to promote ethnic reconciliation, saying $there is no way, given the hostility Sri Lanka displays towards calls for accounta"ility, that it is in any way serious a"out delivering 2ustice, whether through a T ! or through its own investigations and prosecutions.$ Atrocities on "oth sides 6or 78 years, the country.s armed forces fought against the Li"eration Tigers of Tamil 9elam 0LTT91, militant separatists seeking to create an independent state for the Tamil-speaking minority in the north and the east of the country. *n -ay 7::;, the army recaptured the last area controlled "y the LTT9 in the north of the country, putting an end to a civil war that cost the lives of up to <::,::: people,

according to the (nited #ations. #early =:,::: of them were killed in the last five months of the conflict. ,uman rights organi5ations accuse "oth the military and LTT9 of committing war crimes, including deli"erate attacks on civilians, e&ecutions of com"atants and prisoners and enforced disappearances, during the long-running conflict. '(nwarranted interference' The country's growing international isolation "ecame evident during a !ommonwealth summit in !olom"o last year, when the leaders of *ndia, !anada and -auritius stayed away from the event. -oreover, the (# ,igh !ommissioner for ,uman ights, #avi 'illay, recently slammed Sri Lanka for $heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction,$ with human rights activists, 2ournalists and ordinary citi5ens facing growing military harassment four years after the end of the civil war. %illay recently slammed Colombo for &heading in an $The war may have ended, "ut in the increasingly authoritarian direction& meantime democracy has "een undermined and the rule of law eroded,$ she said. This week, the (# official also issued a draft report recommending an $independent, international inquiry mechanism$ into alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the final stages of the war. !olom"o categorically re2ected the conclusions and recommendations of the report, calling it "iased and $tantamount to an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.$ *n the state media, it also pointed to numerous post-conflict achievements such as the reha"ilitation of internally displaced people, economic and infrastructure development in the war-torn areas as well as the esta"lishment of the LL !. $This list of achievements, in the very short period since 7::;, e&tends further, "ut it doesn't seem to satisfy those who are determined to present yet another resolution in +eneva,$ 'alitha )ohona, Sri Lanka's permanent representative to the (#, told the state-owned %aily #ews. Last Septem"er, Sri Lanka held its first provincial election in the former northern war 5one, which was regarded "y many o"servers as a step in the right direction. The landslide victory of the island's main ethnic Tamil minority was seen as reflecting a strong feeling among the community for a negotiated political solution.

,owever, although the ruling coalition in !olom"o had promised to share limited power with Sri Lankan Tamils, the electoral victory has not yet led to a greater degree of autonomy in Tamilma2ority regions, say critics. $The central government has "locked the northern council from using even its 'he main ethnic minority 'amil party won a limited constitutional powers,$ critici5es landslide !ictory in the September ()*+ poll )eenan from *nternational !risis +roup. $*nstead, the region remains under de-facto military occupation. (nfortunately, all the trips to South Africa won.t matter until the Sri Lankan government decides to treat the Tamil people as equals.$